It’s always interesting when we get the chance to meet with colleagues from different organisations around the country and share experiences and ideas. Mr Lyons and Miss Allison have been out for a few days this week on training where they talked at great length about how we, as a staff team, can effectively help our young people develop emotional intelligence. New Bridge has developed a reflective process called ‘Post Incident Learning’ which helps our young people reflect on their behaviours and better understand the feelings that are driving them. Our young people are also encouraged to develop appropriate future responses to heightened emotions. If you would like any further information, please contact Mr Lyons or Miss Allison who will be happy to help you.

We are aware that this time of year is a time of transition for many of our young people. Friday afternoon’s assembly at the Learning Centre focused on change and we talked about the new students coming up on transition visits, the feelings they may well be experiencing and what we can do to support them. We also talked about our older students both in Year 14 who are moving on as well as those in Year 13 leaving the Learning Centre to follow other pathways within the New Bridge Group. We stressed how it is very normal to feel worried or anxious and how important it is to express those feelings to staff who can support you – we have got some fantastic listeners at the Learning Centre!! The leavers support group also continues to run on a weekly basis giving our young people the chance to share concerns.

Please remember that we are also here to help parents and carers if you have any worries or concerns about your child’s next steps. Please don’t hesitate to contact Miss Hall or Mr Lyons at the school site or Mr Barker or Miss Allison at the Learning Centre, or your child’s experienced pastoral lead.

This week Miss Bickerstaff’s wanted to share the work on ‘Space’ they have been doing recently..

This term, following our theme of ‘to infinity and beyond’, class 8HBF have spent the week designing their own space helmets as part of our topic lessons and making our own intergalactic passports in English..

We packed our space rockets in Living Skills, all in preparation for our trip to space! The children enjoyed a visual simulation of a space rocket launch, travelling through the solar system..

..and walking across the different planets like astronauts – out of this world!

We have had a lovely week!

We have a vast amount of material from our wonderful Culture Week that took place at the school site at the end of June. We will be bringing you a special Culture Week feature very soon but we thought you might like to hear Digit4ll’s account of their week while you are waiting..

Digit4ll 1 and 2 had a very cultural week mixing Art and ICT. On Day 1 we looked at the work of Titus Agbara. Firstly we researched his life, then we chose a favourite painting and attempted to recreate it!

On Day 2 we went around the school taking wildlife photographs. We found an amazing number of insects and flowers around the grounds..

We then used photo manipulation software to create some amazing effects. On Day 3 we created an art installation inspired by Richard Long. Suhan giggled throughout making the installation as he did not have off-road wheels!

On Day 4 we looked at the growth of towns and major inventions from during the Industrial Revolution. We were inspired by the opening ceremony from the 2012 Olympics.

We also made a short film to show you some of our work..

This is what some of the Digit4ll pupils had to say about the experience..

• I loved learning about artists and Oldham – Zulaika
• I loved everything! – William
• Using the filters was brilliant – Joseph
• I loved painting and drawing – Danielle
• I loved painting and taking photos of all the activities – James

Our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s groups took on the extreme heat this week and successfully completed their qualifying expedition – well done, everyone!! Mr Taylor has a full report of their 2 day expedition here and you can see all the expedition pictures in our album on Facebook here..

We hope the weather is a bit cooler for our Silver DofE groups who will be undertaking their 3 day qualifying expedition this week!

On Thursday Mr Greenway and Mr Hickie were invited to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh to see our former student, Jack, presented with his Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award..

Not only did Jack receive his coveted Gold Award, he was also asked to do some presenting himself…to none other than Steve Hill MBE!

We’ll have a full account of their incredible afternoon for you soon but, needless to say, we are extremely proud of Jack and all the hard work and determination he put into achieving his Gold Award. Congratulations!!

Mr Lyons attended another meeting this week about the new extension at the school site with our project manager and architect to plan the internal layout of the building and discuss the space outside the building and opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom. It was a very productive meeting and things are beginning to move very quickly now. We will give you more updates as they happen.

Finally, we would like to give a big thank you to our staff who played a role in supporting the team at Hollinwood Academy during its Ofsted inspection earlier this week. We believe the inspection went exceedingly well! We know the official outcome is to follow but well done to the entire team at Hollinwood Academy on your achievement from all at New Bridge. What the inspection process highlighted was the sense of camaraderie that exists within our family of schools and the central team who support all our schools. It was evident that teamwork played a big part in Hollinwood’s success, not only within the school itself but also from the wider Trust. We are confident that with the backing of our New Bridge Trust team, our school will enjoy similar success when the time comes.

We know our Year 11 and Year 14 students will be busy preparing for the event of the year on Friday night…the New Bridge prom! It is always a very special occasion and we know that this year will be no exception – we can’t wait!

Have a good week,

Gavin and Dawn

For news on our Key Stage 5 pathway groups at Medtia Square please click here (this week Tony has received a job offer – our youngest student ever to obtain paid work!)

You can find our full blog here

Click here to read the latest news from Graham